Thread: advice on computer music recording please

bigtree,
it is probably impossible for anyone except you yourself to say if it is wasted money. It depends so much on what you are planning to do with it.

The MBox is a nice little box in many respects, but many of us has hit the limit as far as number of input channels, as there are only two. If you are staying within that limit you can use it for a lot of nice things. If you need more channels I would think that you would be better of spending your money on some other interface, especially since the portability of the MBox does not seem to be you main idea. Just perhaps a Motu 828mkII could be an idea?

Yet another thing is that having both ProTools and Logic is not really making sense on an amateur level. My thinking is that it is much better to go with one of them and learn that one really well. It will most probably be confusing to switch between them as keyboard shortcuts will differ and even concepts will have different names.

Both apps are good for a lot of things and will probably not be the limiting factor for you, both have strenghts and weaknesses. Both can be found in the tool set of professionals but none of them makes the sound happen, you have to do that yourself. It is like having a few types of knifes (the tools) and wood (the talent) and making sculptures.

As you are already familiar with Cubase, just maybe you should take a look at a newer version of that program instead. I get the impression that things has changed quite a bit there over the years.

Gunnar
(Personally I run only Windows, mainly Samplitude. Each to his own).